Abstract

The formation of stars and galaxies has long been assumed by electrical theorists to result from pinch effects in cosmic electric (Birkeland) currents. The exact details of these pinches and the mechanisms involved have remained obscure even though various laboratory experiments have been done in the past. These details are now clarified by relating the mechanisms of Marklund convection and the double plasma focus experiments of W. Bostick. The observed ubiquitous 'hour-glass' shapes of planetary nebulae are shown to be fundamental to this process. The major difference between the formation of stars and of galaxies is simply a matter of scale - the processes are essentially identical.